Junior diary: Learning from the playoff loss

I had such an exciting week in Illinois for the AJGA Junior at Quad Cities. It all started when I got to drive through Peoria with my permit. My mom was scared the whole time, but I don’t know why … I’m a good driver! Anyway, we got to Moline on Sunday evening. I played in the Junior-Am, which is always a blast because the juniors get to play with the sponsors of the tournament. We played a shamble, which is a scramble with a little twist, and my team won! I have been playing in these Junior-Ams since I started AJGA and I have never won one, so it was so neat to be able to say my team won with a 61!

Emma Talley, 16, will file a diary each week this summer as she plays some of the premier junior events in the country.

Talley is a two-time Rolex Junior All-American and has four AJGA victories. In addition to her three wins in 2009, she posted a pair of runner-up finishes and advanced to the quarterfinals at the Polo Golf Junior Classic. She first broke 70 at the age of 11.

I also found out that the course was very tight, with big trees surrounding both sides of the fairways, and not to mention the greens were itty-bitty. Tuesday was the first round of the tournament and I didn’t play very well, but my score was better than I deserved, shooting a 72 after hitting only five fairways. The second day I played better but shot worse than I deserved, shooting a 71. I was up by two shots going into the last day of play, and I didn’t play as well again but ended up shooting 72, which was not good enough to win but put me into a playoff.

The staff decided that our playoff hole would start on No. 1, and let me just tell you – everyone hates that hole. Anyway, I ended up hitting my drive a little right and long, which put me in the rough and behind some branches. I then put my approach shot right where I wanted, which was right on the fringe of the green. I chipped my third shot a little long to about 6 feet, and I had a chance to keep the playoff going, but unfortunately I missed the putt and lost. Even though I lost, I had a wonderful time and to tell you the truth, Allisen Corpuz deserved the win – she played a lot better than I did.

Enough about the golf world! The social events there were so much fun, like always. I met all the new interns for the summer, and they were super nice and fun to be around. However, my buddy, Thomas, an AJGA tournament director that I usually see everywhere I go, will unfortunately not be at any of my tournaments this summer! Therefore, I had to get pictures with all the AJGA staff and a few with just Thomas and me. I also had a lot of fun at Care for the Course! I met all kinds of people and had an amazing time.

My next tournament is the U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier at the Purdue University Golf Course on Monday. So again, wish me luck and hopefully I will make it. Everyone have a wonderful week!